Children Living Near Green Spaces Are More Active
from Science Daily
Children at high risk of obesity who live near parks and recreation areas are apt to participate in walking activities more often, researchers recently reported at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism. In a Canadian study, the presence of nearby parks was strongly associated with girls walking to school and boys engaging in leisure walking. More

Adult Co-ed League's Main Focus is Getting Your Kicks
from the Charlotte Observer
With team names like Consenting Adults and Happy Hour Hooligans, you can bet that the members of Charlotte, N.C.'s, adult co-ed kickball league are out to have some fun. A lot of fun. Now with hundreds of members playing in two divisions, the World Adult Kickball Association brings more to the sport than what you remember from your middle school gym class. More

Hard Work Hidden in Child's Play
from The Denver Post
For kids, play is work. Children are kinetic beings who love to move. While it might look like child's play, turning somersaults and playing tag involves the whole brain."Play is thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problem-solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time," writes child-development specialist James L. Hymes in "Teaching the Child Under Six." More

Saving Green Patches from Urban Sprawl
from the News & Record
Guilford County, N.C., is part of a growing statewide movement to preserve dwindling open space, but the local effort remains fairly modest compared with those of more aggressive urban counties. Guilford’s $10 million program pales next to the $138 million that Mecklen-burg County, N.C., has set aside for such land purchases and the $91 million approved for open space by voters in Raleigh, N.C. More

Michigan Park Officials Want to Run System Like Business
from Spinal Column
Like many government entities and businesses in Michigan and across the globe, the Oakland County Parks and Recreation Department finds itself in a state of transition. The county parks system has been in operation for four decades and includes nearly 6,000 acres of land at 12 sites spread around Oakland's landscape. But none of the parks or their facilities generate more revenue than they cost to operate. That has parks and recreation officials looking to manage the system more like a business. More

Boundless Playground a Step Closer to Reality Thanks to Volunteers
from the Florida Times-Union
When Jill and Brian McElyea first heard that Clay County, Fla., might build a park that featured a Boundless Playground, they jumped into the discussion. Boundless Playgrounds are designed to allow children with and without disabilities to play together and develop respect for each other. As the parents of a special-needs child, they knew how such a place could change lives.More

Supreme Court: Permission Slip Doesn't Cover Liability
from The Associated Press via KCCI-TV
The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday that a permission slip does not release the city of Bettendorf, Iowa, from liability for injuries a girl received when she was hit by a bat at a minor league baseball game. Tara Sweeney and her mother, Cynthia, filed the lawsuit against Bettendorf and its parks and recreation department, claiming the city was responsible for injuries Tara received when a bat slipped from a batter's hands and hit her in the head during a city-sponsored trip to the game in 2003. More

Windmill-driven Aeration Works Wonders for the Water Supply – and Habitat
from GovPro
Fighting fire with fire is one thing. Fighting contaminants in ponds and lakes with harsh chemicals can be dangerous, expensive and ineffective. Yet the alternative – aeration equipment – can be too expensive to be cost-effective. If you can catch the power of the wind with a windmill-driven aeration system, however, you can have the best of all worlds. More

Clearing Big Bend Air in Texas Will Take 146 Years
from The Associated Press via ABC News
The thick brown haze that hovers over Texas’ massive Big Bend national park on warm days has been a problem for at least two decades, according to those who live in the area. And federal and state environmental officials agree that the cloud of pollution caused by factories and power plants hundreds or thousands of miles away in the U.S. and Mexico is a problem that needs to be cleaned up. But officials differ, by about 91 years, on how long it should take. More

Sustainable Eco Parks
from Trend Hunter Magazine
Brazil was once known as the country that was destroying the rainforest. Now it seems they are trying to rebuild their reputation by pushing renewable energy and sustainable architecture. The Brazilian government recently built a sustainable park in Sao Paulo on the site of an old landfill. More